Integrated circuit (IC) cards are becoming increasingly used for many different purposes in the world today, principally because they are ideal tools for the delivery of distributed, secure information processing at a low cost. An IC card, also called a "smart card," is a card typically the size of a conventional credit card, but which contains a computer chip on the card. The computer chip on the IC card typically includes a microprocessor, read-only-memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only-memory (EEPROM), a random access memory (RAM), an input/output (I/O) mechanism, and other circuitry to support the microprocessor in its operations. The computer chip can execute one or more applications stored on the card. Examples of applications that IC cards are being used to store and execute include credit/debit, electronic money/purse, telephone calling card, and loyalty reward applications.
As the use and application of IC cards has increased, IC card standards have been promulgated. For example, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Engineering Consortium (IEC) have promulgated several industry-wide standards for IC cards, ISO/IEC 7816-1 through ISO 7816-8. The ISO/IEC standards provide, for example, general guidelines for file structures and referencing methods so that various applications and IC card operating systems can understand one another and work in a cohesive manner. Additionally, in the field of payment systems (such as credit and debit card systems), the EMV '96 Integrated Circuit Card Specification for Payment Systems, Version 3.0, Jun. 30, 1996, available from MasterCard International Incorporated.RTM., specifies file structures and file referencing methods that are generally compliant with ISO/IEC standards 7816-4 and 7816-5. Nonetheless, proprietary IC card standards exist that are not compliant with ISO/IEC standards.
The existence of multiple IC card standards is problematic to the IC card manufacturer, who is required to produce different versions of its IC cards, with different operating systems that are compatible with the different standards. Moreover, since operating systems are typically loaded into the ROM of an IC card when it is initially produced, each time a standard is updated or a new standard is adopted, an IC card manufacturer may be required to distribute new IC cards with an updated operating system compatible with the new or updated standard.
It would advantageous to the card manufacturer, card issuer, application provider, and card user if the operating system of an IC card was not required to be updated each time a new or updated IC card standard was promulgated.